Shirtless Booth
by seeleybaby
Summary: This is a story in response to the "Shirtless Booth" challenge over on the BY. And that is pretty much the challenge. Booth had to get shirtless. You should all try it sometime. Does wonders for the muse, seriously.
1. Chapter 1

Based on the 'Shirtless Booth' challenge over on the BY. Really…who can resist that, hmmm?

_--b&b--_

_Author's note: This story is brought to you by the way Booth's eyes kind of glass over when he's about to be kissed by a pretty lady. His eyes always look like 'This is probably a mistake, but…." and his lips twitch a bit, like "I cannot beLIEVE this is happening", and he kind of leans in…._

_The only other time I've ever seen that look on his face is when Brennan is ice skating with him, and she tells him he's the only FBI agent she wants to work with. He smoothes his hand down his tie and looks at her like, "wow….really?"_

_(which brings about another question, of course, which is…why does Seeley Booth work in t-shirts and jeans and ice skate in suits? Either way, I'm not a complainer)_

_--b&b--_

"His dimples, for sure" the redhead in the corner with the latte smirked, "Oooh yeah…when he smiles?" She dipped her stirrer and swirled it around in her mug.

"No" the blonde beside her shook her head and fiddled with the tie on her umbrella, "It's those shoulders. So wide…" her nostrils flared slightly and she blushed, "Perfect"

Brennan faced the doors of the elevator and tried not to listen in, although she was curious as to who these ladies were talking about. He sounded like an attractive specimen of the male species.

"Mmhmm…" a sassy voice from Brennan's right disagreed, "Those are _SO_ fine, but…no, no, no ladies. You've got it ALL wrong. I'm telling you, it's that perfect, _perfect_ way he fills out a pair of dress pants, hmmm? Am I right?"

Brennan swallowed a slight smile at the murmurings of acceptance.

"Gina, I didn't hear YOU agreeing" Sassy challenged, and Brennan discretely looked around.

A cool brunette filing her nails shrugged a shoulder, "Have you SEEN him with a gun?"

It seemed there was a collective deep breath inhaled at the thought of that, and Brennan rolled her eyes to herself.

"And don't forget that cocky belt buckle" Latte added, and the weight of the elevator practically dipped with the way the women swooned.

But Brennan was stunned. They were talking about…about _Booth_! All of the signs pointed to it. Well, the gun, and the belt buckle, and she supposed the shoulders…and the…

"Heya, Bones" Booth smiled and entered the elevator as the doors opened on his office floor. "That for me?"

She handed him the coffee from her hand and looked at him, confused. "Why are you on the elevator? I thought we were supposed to meet in your office…" she hissed, now slightly uncomfortable with the way she was being eyed from the other X chromosomes in the elevator.

"Got a lead on our case. We need to look into it." He eyed her over the rim of his coffee, "That okay with you?"

"Sure" she croaked, then cleared her throat and examined her fingernails, "I mean, that sounds quite satisfactory."

Booth smirked a bit and looked at her in confusion. But then the doors to the elevator opened to the lobby, and he pressed his hand to her back, "Let's go, Bones." With a small smile, he nodded behind him, "Ladies."

And the sound of closing elevator doors didn't drown out the sound of four satisfied sighs at his departure.

"I _told_ you" Sassy……sassed.

_--b&b--_

Booth was acting like he normally did, slamming his driver's side door shut while balancing his phone on his ear and a cup of coffee in his hand, but Brennan's mind was in overdrive, processing what she'd just observed.

Those four women had, very casually and expertly, been discussing Booth's physical attributes. But he didn't seem to notice at all. But she knew Booth was quite skilled at analyzing a situation. So either he didn't know, or he did know and he chose to ignore them.

Or maybe he only ignored them when she wasn't around.

Which means that maybe those women had _firsthand_ experience with Booths…attributes.


	2. Chapter 2

"What did you say?" Booth's back stiffened, and he turned to face her.

It was later that evening, and they'd finally entered his apartment after completing their paperwork at the Jeffersonian. Booth had led them into the living room where he tossed his suit jacket against the back of the couch, but now….

"I would like you to take your shirt off, please"

"Wha--, I…???" Booth sputtered incredulously, "Just like that."

"Yes." Brennan nodded slightly, "All of those women in the elevator were extolling your physical attributes, and they don't even know you. I feel…" she cleared her throat, "I _think_… that, as your _partner_, I should be… more informed than they are. More informed than the average woman."

Booth pulled at the knot of his tie, "More informed."

"Yes" Brennan repeated.

Booth put his hands on his hips and looked at her, his face a riot of emotion. His eyes widened for a moment and he snapped his fingers, pleased. "You've already seen me naked!"

They both froze then as memories flooded as quickly as the water that had trickled down his form that night.

"Erm…um…what I meant to say was." Booth flushed and cleared his throat, "I think you are already quite _informed_, Bones."

Brennan frowned slightly and cursed the slight blush she could feel creeping up her chest. "Well, that doesn't count."

"Doesn't count?" Booth huffed, "How the hell not?"

"Because…" Brennan's nose twitched and she itched it. "Because…" her throat tightened and she swallowed a couple of times, "Because I didn't really look!" she finally hissed.

By now they were both breathing a bit irregularly and Booth crossed his arms in front of his chest in defense.

"And why should I do this?" he asked. "You're MY partner, but I'm not asking to see YOU shirtless, now, am I?"

His throat tightened as he could see the wheels in her mind turning in that way that never meant anything good for him.

"I suppose you're right, Booth" And with her dexterous precision, she reached behind her and unzipped her dress. "It's only fair."

Before he could tell her to stop, she'd shrugged the material off of her shoulders and the dress fell from her waist to pool around her feet, a billow of black cotton.

Fair? Booth's eyes were pinned to her ankles. Fair?

Fair was the tone of her skin, her calves and knees, up her, oh sweet mercy, pale, and yes, fair thighs. But fair ended mid thigh with a midnight blue silk slip that ran up her torso to thin straps over her shoulders, which put him back to fair.

"Booth?"

One of her hands rested on her hip impatiently, and he gave up then, and loosened his tie all the way before pulling it off by one end. His fingers were quicker than he thought they'd be as he unbuttoned his dress shirt and pulled it off along with his under shirt.

He met her eyes then, and they flared in response to the way he'd accepted her challenge.

"So we're even now, Bones?"

Her gaze was roving over his upper half, and she seemed transfixed with the way his lower stomach muscles framed his belly button. Booth's hips rocked forward without his permission, and she cleared her throat slightly, "Well, I'm not wearing pants, so…"

She subconsciously licked her lips as the sharp breath he inhaled caused his abdominals to ripple.

But he just widened his stance a bit and went to work on his belt. Soon he was methodically unzipping his pants and he deliberately removed one leg and then the other. He gently folded his pants and placed them over the back of his couch, leaving him only in dark blue silk boxers.

And striped socks, Brennan realized as her eyes traveled over his long lean form.

The side of her mouth hitched up in a smile, "Nice stripes."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and smirked a bit, surprisingly sort of comfortable. "Hey, you've got your shoes on. I'm keeping my socks on. We're even." He shrugged a shoulder. "Except I'm in just my underwear, and you're in your…you know."

Brennan nodded to herself, "I guess you're right." She agreed and proceeded to pull her slip over her head, leaving her in nothing but a pair of matching midnight blue underwear. She shook her head slightly to get her hair to fall back into place from the static of her silk gown.

A strangled gasp passed through Booth's lips. "Well, that backfired" he muttered, and she met his eyes.

"What did you say?"

"What?" he asked, his eyes registering her body before his mind told him this was crazy.

"Crazy…" he whispered, and his eyes shot up to hers in shock. "This is crazy." He blinked and pulled in short breaths through his nose and mouth. "This….this got out of hand, I think."

Their eyes held for long moments until Brennan's curiosity got the better of her and she looked down his body again.

Taking a step toward him, she shivered slightly, "You seem…appreciative."

Booth snorted slightly in disbelief, "Well, yeah, Bones. I've got a beautiful, gorgeous genius practically naked in my apartment, and…there's only so much a man can take, you know."

Brennan's pulled her upper lip between her teeth and shifted, "You think I'm gorgeous?" she asked softly, "And beautiful?"

A laugh escaped from Booth's throat and he shook his head, "Are you serious? Bones, you're…" his hand motioned in a vertical up and down line, "I mean…well…yes…"

"Oh…" she seemed genuinely surprised, and Booth's eyes narrowed.

"Is that what all of this was about? Bones…were you jealous of those other women?"

She gasped and stiffened, "No, of course not. That's ridiculous." She stepped back and turned around to pick up her slip. "This is all ridiculous" she repeated as she fumbled with untangling the straps so she could put it on.

"Wait…" Booth's voice was low and he took a step closer to her. "Just…wait a minute."

--b&b—

Well…there is one more chapter…but do you really want it?


	3. Chapter 3

Well, here is the final chapter. Might not be what you all have in mind, but…I'm happy with it. Thanks for all the kind comments so far! I appreciate it!

_--b&b--_

They stood quietly for a moment until Booth took the slip from her hands.

Brennan kept her eyes locked with his as she lifted her arms allowing her hands to slip through the holes.

Booth's hands slid down, smoothing the material against her body. "Bones…" he pulled a bit at the hem, "Listen…those women, I don't even know them. They just like to gossip. Trust me…I'm not, I mean…you know…I don't…" he paused when she reaching around him for his white dress shirt.

Keeping his eyes on hers, he slid his arms through the sleeves, then sucked in a sharp breath as the backs of her fingers brushed his stomach as she began fastening the buttons. "Look, Bones…" clearing his throat, his hips shifted against hers as she smoothed her hands down his chest before pulling his cuffs straight and straightening his collar, "you're my partner, you know?"

He pulled back a bit and looked into her eyes before leaning around her to pick up her dress. Crouching low, he held it still as she stepped one foot in, placing her hand on his shoulder for balance as she stepped with her other foot. He rose slowly, pulling the dress up with him. "You're my partner, which means you've got a hell of a lot on those other women"

Brennan shivered slightly as his knuckles brushed her arms where she slid them through the sleeves of her dress. Her eyes slid shut as he stepped even closer, his fingertips skimming down to her waist before sliding around to her back. One hand at the small of her back held her steady as the other pulled gently on the zipper. "Bones" he whispered next to her ear, "you know the real me, got it?"

He took a step back, and then looked down with a flush as if just realizing he was still practically naked in front of her.

Clearing his throat, he bent over to reach for his pants, but Brennan stopped him from continuing. Without speaking, she took the pants from his hand. Bending slightly, she nudged his right knee for him to lift his foot up.

He placed one hand on the back of the couch beside him to keep his balance as he put his other foot in his pant leg and she slowly pulled them up to his waist.

He cleared his throat when she fastened the button and zipped him up, and when she looked up, she realized her nose was pressed close to the skin below his ear. Biting her bottom lip caused her chin to brush against him, and he pulled in a quick breath. "I guess I can admit that _maybe_, while quite irrational" she clarified, "I might have been a little jealous."

Booth wasn't sure how to reply to that, but it didn't matter because he could hardly form words at all from the way she reached around him again and began tucking his shirt into his pants. Once that was completed, she looped his belt around his waist and clasped the belt buckle in place.

She tapped it once with her index finger, then took a quick step back as if scalded.

They were both breathing as heavily as they'd been when almost completely naked and Booth's eyes darkened to coals.

"We should get out of here" He rasped. "Go somewhere…public."

"Good idea" she agreed and they both turned quickly to walk out the door.


End file.
